Cotton Stuffed Justice
by mode76
Summary: Lory and Ren are discussing serious business at the president's office. My first fanfic. There are made up words. There are dorkly puns. I like curve balls, don't jump to conclusions. There is not a single drop o Sho in it either, so Enjoy! The contents are suitable to everyone...
1. Chapter 1 - The Dream

**Chapter 1: The Dream**

The president is in his personal office when Ren walkes in unannounced. The boss is busy between two screens, one is in front of him, his computer, and the other is a tablet-like device in his hands. Ren, used to discuss important things when the president is working, takes a seat. He is probably in one of the endless meetings with people all over the world he thinks. Ren doesn't mind talking while the president is multitasking. In fact, it would be easier this way.

"You know Ren, I manage many lives in my hands right now..."

"I have matters to settle outside Japan"

"Oh?... How unusual. Something to handle outside Japan... After all you went through until now, wouldn't this be you going back on your words?"

"I don't see it as breaking a promise. This is the opposite, I'm paving my way back in advance... As long as nobody finds out, it would be fine."

The president have his hands busy on the electronic device but is able to picture what Ren was trying to say. _*_ _From our previous conversation, you still don't consider yourself ready, and yet, there is something you want to settle out there...what are you planning Kuon?*_ His expression got serious for a moment, he takes a deep breath and stops looking to his device, then continues his thought. * _You make the thinks harder on yourself on purpose, don't you? To begin with, this is your own fault for being so headstrong. Well... now at least you are starting to circle around those self-imposed rules..._ _maybe bending the rules a little might be just what you need..._ I _f you try to be as hard as you can, you end up brittle._ _"_

"I won't help you out with any of this... you are on your own." - Takarada says turning back to the computer's screen.

"I'm not asking for help, I'm just making it clear I won't be here for the next few days."

"Hmmm... 'Not here in the next few days', 'nobody finds out' ... I'm pretty much the only one you can rely for help, don't you think".

"Well, that is one way to see things..."

"OK. OK. I get it. I will think of some excuse. Nobody outside this room will find out, I will say it has to do with one of my secret projects", he finally takes back his device, Ren can finally take a glimpse of what is on the screen: "game over".

Ren gets the support he needs, he might need help in case of an emergency. For the moment he is free to go, he's yet to prepare everything, travel tickets, luggage, documents, hotel, all that covered up so no one ever finds out about it.

After a short while, Maria charges into Lory's office with a bag on her hand.

"Grandpa! Grandpa... I can't talk to onee-sama, she does not answer the phone."

"Don't worry Maria-chan, it would be weird if that girl answered on the first call, she must have it turned off for some reason."

"But then I won't be able to return the the sewing materials I had borrowed."

"Well, why don't you deliver it tomorrow at noon at the Love-Me section? She will be there. It's getting late already"

"Hmm.. ok"

"I'm almost done here, when I'm finished we are going home..."

Maria leaves Lory dealing with whatever current task he has at hand, now she gets more time to perfect her sewing technique on her play room. On her way back, the young girl sees a known silhouette approaching. Ren was already really far, and it was humanly impossible to eavesdrop their conversation... but this was no regular human and somehow he knew Kyoko was involved in the conversation.

"Maria-chan, you... did you want to talk with Mogami-san about something?"

"Uhh.. I borrowed some sewing material last week. She is teaching me the basics, and gave me an example piece. I want to return these today but I can't find her. Grandpa told me to bring them tomorrow at noon to the Love Me section." - Ren's eyebrows rose a little.

"Maria-chan..." - with a deep voice, "Don't you want me to return them for you instead? " Maria can swear there are roses all around him.

"Kyaahh! Ren-sama you are such a gentleman!" - she really have no chance at resisting, she gives the bag right away...

Ren is about to look inside the bag, but stops midway. *Not right now...* he thinks, it is late, and there are tasks to be done.

Lory, still in his office, finally finishes his duties, but is somewhat disappointed with the results. On the screen of his device there is a message "Your princess is in another castle..."

"Arg! Again! Even with a walkthrough! That's the 7th time damn it... this poor guy here has it worst than Ren...". "Hmm... Speaking of him, I feel like I left some loose ends on our conversation. Maybe I should ask for more details "... he thinks looking at the clock. It's really getting late.

Finally joining Maria at her room, the man hears from her about how Ren is a gentleman, and how he volunteered himself to go to Love-Me section tomorrow deliver the bag to its owner. Without batting an eye, the president thinks that gentleman won't last one day without spilling the beans about his trip.

* * *

Midnight.

Kyoko is at her room, sleeping, but she doesn't know it of course. This time the dream is on a rose garden with rabbits, tea and mushrooms... In the middle of a happy walk on the 'fairyfields' she begins to feel something weird: It is getting difficult to run. After a while, her legs can't move at all. She tries really hard to move in her dream but instead became fully paralyzed from the head to toes. The 'dreamlandscape' changes too, it gradually becomes one big room. Not big in normal size, it is giant in scale. She is the size of a small rodent and drops from a bag on top of a colossal bed. Unable to move all she could is stand there.

A giant creature walks in the room, she can hear him as he sits on the bed. The giant gets her from a rope she have on her back and leaves her hanging in the air for a while. Carefully he puts her on his forehead and lays on the bed.

"This thing is really well made. It's soft, has a nice hair" - the giant goes on fiddling with the hostage.

"How can something be this cute", the giant continues looking at her, now directly held above his head.

Paralyzed with fear, she wanted to scream, run away and wake up all at the same time... by now she is conscious it is a dream but can't help herself. She just does not wake up. After a while, she stops resisting and resigns herself to endure it. The giant seems to be really enjoying himself while playing with her hair. By the end of it, he lifts her near his nose, at that point she is able to see him and now she realizes... it is a nightmare... The giant is the emperor of the night himself... Ren, a constant presence in her mind breaks the final barrier: her dreams... there is nowhere else to hide from him...

After some more lovely cuddling the giant puts her down in a bag and sleeps. At that exact moment she wakes up. Astonished.

* * *

Morning. Kanae wakes up and as always, did not sleep long enough. Right now she is sleepy, and it's only 8:00 AM. She know this day will take the best of her day.

All her time at home is spend either hiding at her den or doing the daily household work. When leaving her room she performs the special ritual, looks left, right, top bottom, then tiptoes out silent. As she begins her daily chores, the weight of the world presses down her shoulders. Today that weight feels stronger because of all the early work is combined with the fatigue of a bad night, but these brats shouldn't have to jump at her back like that! One of these demons grabbed her leg and now is being dragged around holding it, begging for her to play. - "NEVER!™" - she always says resolute - * _If I concede even once, that would be the end for me, they would never let me be alone again*_. The morning checklist goes by quickly... cleaning the floor, check. Doing the laundry, check. Cleaning the floor, double check, some twerp dropped the breakfast. All that's left is lunch.

Almost noon, now she is sleepy and tired, but even so, she prepares the usual a meal. Only the bare minimum to be considered edible but still a meal. Meanwhile she realizes all the young family members have gone quiet at the same time. Curious about what kind of 'hypnosis session' is able to turn the devil's squad in a horde of zombies, she takes a peek at the TV. A popular anime it seems, with muscle guys fighting, and more important: screaming, the louder the guy the stronger he is. It is silly but was effective and she is going to use this to silence them someday. (Use the show, not the shouting). For now she contends to watch more scenes and to take mental notes, this show is the ultimate brat pacifier. The more she sees however, the less she understands. The fighters can fly and their hair changes colors for some reason. Before the show is over she is done with the meal. That is for the better, this way she can quietly go back to her fortress of solitude before the zombie invasion breaks out.

* * *

High noon, Kanae now is sleepy, tired and distracted. She just left public transportation, and is about to enter LME. Before entering, a strong wind blows her skirt up! Alarmed by the idea of someone seeing what is under her skirt, she stops and hold it down, and this accidentally drops the purse. She kneels to take back the bag and all the contends that fell from it. Ren Tsuruga is in the parking lot a little far behind, not near enough to see everything clearly, but not far enough to have missed it.

 _*He... He saw it! Ahhh! He definitely saw it! That was embarrassing! Argh... Kyoko I'm going to kill you for '_ _ **this thing you gave me**_ ' _, I never planned to let anyone see me with this*_ She goes on to remember the moment her self-proclaimed-best-friend-at-the-time gave her that **'artifact'**. It is clearly handmade with cotton cloth and love and Kanae was not able to distinguish what kind of face that girl made that was impossible to refuse the gift. If she tried to refuse it it would probably result in tears and awkward feelings, so she accepted, but it is embarrassing to bring anyway.

"Excuse me Kotonami-san..."Ren says slowly approaching.

In one instant Kanae puts all she could into her bag, stands up and walks away, acting as nothing had happened. This leaves Ren talking to the air.

He puts one hand on the chin, reflecting. _*Although I was far, I could tell... that was definitely the Love me Pink..."_ still thinking, he goes on to check Maria's bag on his hand- _*...So there was another one... "_ \- Contends of the bag: cloth, line, sewing needle, other materials and **the finished product: 'CENSORED'.**

Still standing silent and contemplative,

* _But why Kotonami-san had that embarrassed look? Is_ _ **THIS**_ _something to be ashamed of?_ *

Ren stares the bag for a while. Suddenly he feels like some kind of switch was "turned on" inside him. Somehow he had an awakening.

 _*If I had something like this, I wouldn't mind... I would not even be ashamed of it... I would... pretty much treasure it... now that I think about it, Kotoname-san was given one (and I wasn't) Maria-chan had this one too. Now that Maria-chan learned how to make one for herself, this one is clearly Kyouko's spare one, maybe I should ask for this one for myself. I even might use this somehow!_ * - He seems like a different person today.

* * *

Kyoko is preparing for her next assignment at the love Me section's Room. The place was filled with boxes of many different sizes by someone and there are not many places left to sit. The president Lory was up to something, and the LoveMe section seemed like the perfect place to fill with those boxes.

Arriving at LoveMe section, Ren knocks the door.

"Mogami-san?"

Kyoko is alarmed, she had this weird dream about the subject in question last night.

"Mogami-san?" Ren says gently...

Somehow he knows she is supposed to be there today. How? No, that doesn't matter... For now, it is better to brush him off with an excuse, recompose herself and face him off only when she is ready.

"Tsuraga-san, what are you doing here?" - Kyoko says with a trembling smile.

"Well, yesterday Maria-chan tried to call you but you never answered the phone, she wanted to give you this."

"Oh my! That's my bag! Thank you very much!"- she quickly takes the bag and begin searching for something.* _*Where is it? *_

"Among the things she send back..."

* _where is iiiittt?*_ Kyoko thinks

"was **THIS**...", Ren holds an object high and mighty , Kyoko is about to cry in terror.

"She told me you sew things like this yourself", he goes on with a innocent smile.

* _Oh no! I was discovered! busted! exposed!_ *, hands on the face, about to crack.

"If is something like **this**... ", Now Kyoko is inclining herself to take the object back.

" **Then I -really- want it**." with a serious look.

"Eh?" Kyoko's mind does not compute this last part.


	2. Chapter 2 - The Vision

**Chapter 2** : The Vision

Kanae is mad because she dropped her bento box at the entrance of the LME. What she prepared shouldn't really be called a lunch, but she is mad either way. She is on a diet for about a week and knows when its about to backfire. Now she is sleepy, tired, distracted and hungry. For the time being she is going to remedy "sleepy".

Kanae arrives at the canteen and orders the mega cup of coffee of salvation. She takes a gulp, and begins trembling of caffeine and anger... I mean hunger... The trembling is a side effect of a bad habit of dieting to the extreme and she got used to it along the years... but today there are other effects showing too. This already happened sometimes in the past, very occasionally her vision goes full blank, in other times she begins to see things that are not there. There was once a occasion she saw little spirits around Kyouko. Today she is so hungry she considers if is possible something else might happen. After calming down a little she stays resolute. Just because she sees things, doesn't mean the others need to know, it is just a matter of ignoring what isn't real. She is not giving up her diet right now just because of that, she just need to calm down, act it out and carry on!

After a while Kanae stops at Love-me section entrance, she needs a script at her locker there. While she is looking through the door, she sees Ren talking to Kyoko. As she begins to hallucinate, in her vision the man transform into a dog.

"Mogami-san, If it is something like **this**... **then I really want it** ". The puppy says with a serious look.

"But... but! Tsugura-san! Not this one... this one is... It's embarrassing! Think about your image as the lead male actor! What will other people think!". Kyoko is jumping around trying to get the **THING** back.

"..When I saw Kotonami-san with one this morning, I couldn't help but think It would be "handy" to have something like that around..." Puppy Ren continues as he playfully evades her pounces, she keeps trying to get the mysterious object back. Kanae can't tell precisely what the object is, it seems blurred to her.

"Anyone taking a look would know it's "me" on that! It's very personal, it has the love me pink! It can be recognized even by a satellite photo!"

Puppy Ren is evading Kyoko easily - "If it bothers you, I would keep near me in a place only I can see, I could even bring it on a daily basis so that I won't lose sight of it."

Kyoko grabs the **THING** on one end, Puppy Ren holds it on another. BAD DOG! Now Ren looks like a Siberian husky with a toy on his mouth, the master is pulling the toy but the dog won't let it go! - This is not an obedient dog, this is clearly an alpha dog, leader of the pack.

Ren continues teasing Kyoko, Kanae is still trying to tell what is the object they are holding. Her visions gets worse instead, now chibby Kyoko is being dragged around by doggy Ren, and she won't let go by any means. The dog get's excited and goes on a sprint, Chibby Kyoko begins to wave in the air like a flag (or a kite maybe?) The dog finishes happily dashing around chibby Kyoko in circles, she tumbles on the floor completely dizzy.

Seeing Kyoko being bullied in third person is something new to Kanae, normally she is the one doing it. From time to time she hears from Kyoko how Ren likes tease, but now, seeing it live, she can completely quantify the fun this dog is having.

BAMMMMM -

Kanae enters the room bashing the door. She takes a closer look on the object.

"Why don't you give it to him already!" - she says, now knowing what the object is. She feels relived, it was not what she was thinking initially, it's something else... she gives it to the dog and goes on to take the last chair in the room.

Doggy Ren, like a Golden retriever, proudly carries the mysterious object around the room and looks for a place to sit. He stops near a big box on the floor. The box didn't mind his approach at first. Then the dog sits, now the box seems annoyed. That doesn't mater, Totto is happy.

Kanae, ignoring her visions, continues the talk with Kyoko "(Mo).. I find it embarrassing to walk around carrying this thing, so I never shown it to anyone, but you tread it as if it were some kind of sacred relic, if he likes it that much why don't you give it to him already?" -

Ren is sitting on a cardboard box holding a little **"Kyoko doll"** made of cotton cloth. The little Kyoko doll is wearing a LoveMe pink attire (limited edition) exactly like the real one. Kanae has one doll very similar she dropped when arriving the LME that Ren saw earlier. Kanae finds using a little doll of a friend very disturbing and never shown it to anyone. Ren finds it disturbing that both Maria and Kanae were given one and he wasn't, and he wants to show it.

After a while they hear a crack coming from the box the dog is sitting, something inside it seemed to have snapped. Kanae stands up to take a closer look, puts the mega cup coffee on one end of the big box, and goes to to check around it from all the sides. She does not want to be blamed if something breaks because of this dog. Seeing nothing wrong on the outside she looks back at the dog. Now he looks like a Shiba. Properly sitting, with eyes closed, and toy in the mouth, "arffing" lightely, tail waving, silliest face ever.

 _*Damn it, the visions are getting worse, my mind can't even decide what breed of dog this guy is, (maybe he is mixed breed?... no nevermind that), I have to finish this quickly and go eat something*_

She opens her locker and gets the script. She got what she wanted but before leaving, maybe it would be interesting to know more about what is happening there. She says directed at Kyoko:

"Besides... it might be that Tsuruga-san just realized these dolls true meaning..."

Eh...?" Ren attention is captured by this. He stands up and approaches the girls, spilling the cup of coffee on the top of box in the process. For the luck of everyone it didn't spill on the floor, it got completely absorbed by the unlucky box's cardboard.

 _*Could it be? Moko-san knows the doll's true nature!? No way ... she is not the type to care about this kind of thing... for her this would be something like... yes! It would be...*_ Kyoko was about to reach a conclusion to her though.

"A proof of **FRIENDSHIP** " - the girls say together!

"Yeah you gave me this one when we barely knew each other, and I even tried to give it back once... If it is not that important you should give this one to him already"

"No!" Kyoko exclaimed;

Ren feels a little shot in his heart. Kanae takes a look at the poor guy. Ren is falling sideways in slow motion, sparkling.

"But isn't it a proof of friendship?"

"Yes"

"And you two are friends right?"

"Right"

"So give this one to him..."

"No!"

"Why?"

"Because I don't want to!"

This is taking longer then Kanae though... Kyoko has some ulterior motives to not want Ren to have it. Ren has just died a scene worth an Oscar prize.

"This one doll is special, I wouldn't give it to anyone, not even a childhood friend or even a fairy" Kyoko concludes... (Arg!" Kuon lying on the floor is shoot too. Double kill! Mogami Kyoko is on a rampage!)

Kanae is starting to feel sorry for the empty body on the floor.

Suddenly the room goes dark... some kind of wind pressure blows the air around her. The power is emanating from the body on the floor. As the aura gets stronger, Kanae gets pushed backwards, the room starts to shake and crack around her. The powerful being lying on the floor stands up emitting a glowing light. Ressurection!"

Unfortunately Kyoko is unable to notice this - she is thinking of something else.

 _*Wha-what is this? Where did this fighting spirit comes from? Am I seeing things? **Blondy hair!? Green eyes!? OH MY GOD! THAT GUY WENT SUPER-SAIYAN!** * _she is confusing a TV program with reality. Whatever that entity is called, he looks powerful, menacing, overflowing with rage. No words are necessary, just his body language is enough. _*So you want to fight serious for that doll now? Good luck! From the look on that girl's face you are digging your own grave" ,_ Kyouko does not get this atmosphere at all. (Ladies and gentleman, Mogami Kyoko's mind had just left the building).

From his gaze it seems he wants some private time with Kyoko, she is happy to fulfill his request.

Before leaving Kanae looks back to confirm what she just saw and get something else from Kuon's gaze: "This is not even my final form".

"Argh! Have to get something to eat!", Kanae, lacking over 9000 calories by now, walks away stomping the ground.

After a while later Ren leaves with Kyoko for a walk and the room is silent and empty.

A voice comes from the empty room:

"Maria" the voice says...

"Maria!"

But nobody came...

"Maria!" The box says again louder.

"Come help me get out of this box... my back hurts!"

Maria suspected something was going the moment her grandfather asked her to play hide and seek. She knows she is getting too old for that, and normally she hides and he seeks. She thinks he was trying to spy on someone instead, but knowing the old man's exotic nature, she doesn't mention anything.

"Don't worry Maria, this won't grow into an habit... I'm not hiding like this ever again..." The old man says while getting out of the box.

"Also, while you are helping me out, bring me one of those pink LoveMe attires..."

"Eh? Why" Maria asked puzzled, this old man is very eccentric.

"It seems someone spilled a cup of coffee on me..."


	3. Chapter 4 - The staging

The Staging

"The year is 20XX… Ren has mastered every role that exists… every trope, every scene, all. The acting industry gotten to the point where everything is played out to theoretical perfection. Humanity has reached its pinnacle… The peasants are living in poverty… Ren face is on every wall, every screen. The great media propaganda machine brainwashes people to love the man who transcended human acting. Society bends to the will of the chosen one. After Ren finally attains godhood, he becomes the only viable actor left. He plays all the roles in all the films at the same time. He gets the all top ten entries in the top 10 actors. Monasteries are build in his name where monks levitate and honor his deeds in 7 different languages... Ren is everything, Ren is everywhere. Ren is all. The Ren Apocalypse took everyone by surprise, his growth is exponential. If left unchallenged, pretty soon he will gather enough power to conquer the whole world."

"But wait! An undercover group of acterrorist are planning a coup d'etat against Ren's Tiranny. Kyoko, Moko-san and Chiori from the secretive love me special forces! Viva la resistance!"

At that moment the lady owner of the Daruma's restaurant enters Kyoko's room. Kyoko is playing some kind of game with her dolls. The lady wants help with the costumers but Kyoko is having so much fun playing 'save the world'... seeing the little girl cheerfully holding the toys warms her heart.

She is so hardworking and helps me a lot everyday. I guess it is not bad to let her act as a child once in a while.*. The lady leaves Kyoko to her fantasies and goes back to the restaurant. *It has been a long time since I saw her playing like that... something might have happened at her workplace. Maybe she is relieving the stress...*

While entering the restaurant she perceives a curious resemblance:

"That last doll she was playing with... where did I see it before? It is strangely similar to the guy that dropped Kyoko from the work...*

Back in the room, Kyoko notices the absence of Chiori's doll. That is serious business, she begins the search around the room:

"Calling all the dolls! Calling all the dolls! This is not training! You know the drill, all the dolls should check in! One of the dolls is missing"

"Moko-doll?"

"What!" the doll says with one angry voice.

"Chiori-Doll?"

"Here in the closet!" says a falsetto voice.

"Ok, found the missing one, to the next. Rendoll?"

"..." The doll does not respond... he is sitting on a throne on the top of a little shrine, right above everybody, behind him was a poster that covered half the wall. This was all part of the previous play in which he was almost a deity. The power clearly went through his head.

"Tsuruga-Ren-Doll! Would you please report in?"

"No", the doll says with a condescending tone.

"Ahh, you think you are better than the others eh?

"You know that I am..."

"What makes you think you are so different from your comrades?" She says taking the doll with both hands.

"You said that yourself..."

"Eh?" Kyoko is looking puzzled...

"In the past don't you remember?"

"No..."

"Let me refresh the memories for you. When Maria originally asked for "Ren-doll"... who was in your hands at that time? "

"Well..."

"Right! It was me..."

"Yeah but why THAT makes you special?"

"You said it at that moment! I could not been given to her, or anyone... You made Maria another one and gave it at her birthday. This way you could keep me!"

Oh no! the doll is becoming self aware of his condition!* Kyoko thinks to herself.

"To summary I am special. I am different from the other dolls. You did something different to me when you made me."

This little guy is getting too clever, where is he going with this?, Kyoko is getting nervous.

"When you offered my lips to kiss a little girl I knew something was up! You think I don't know what you are doing? You use Maria as guinea pig for your experiments... "

"You are clearly distorting the facts!" Kyoko retorted openly knowing where this was going.

"You were so coward and irresponsible! Don't experiment in the others the things you are afraid of! You make a voodoo doll and is not even brave enough acknowledge your true intentions! Test it yourself! Are you afraid to kiss me?"

"Noooooo!" Kyoko says rolling on the floor. " When I made you a voodoo doll I had no ill intentions in mind! At that time Tsuruga-san really hated me, so I made you in self defense! SELF DEFENSE! I was going to stab you just a little if he was to bully me! I never though of any other purpose beside that! I had no impure thoughs!

"Ah-ha! So now you acknowledge I 'am' special. I'm a voodoo doll with some kind of connection to the real one..."

Damn it! This doll just got me...* she thinks snapping her fingers.

"How does this works? Why does he never feel anything? I get tossed, dropped, bumped and carried around without much care in your purse and yet the real dude is still out there without a scratch."

"Well, who knows... I think it works kinda like an antenna... with a better construction, you get a higher quality signal... Maybe I need to get the target proportions right? Or maybe I should put a piece of the target's hair inside the doll or something like that... I don't know..."

" 'I don't know' ? You are not even sure how to make one?" the doll seems angry, maybe he feels it was implied he is a low quality artifact.

"I was just testing out of curiosity, you are my first attempt OK! I'm no specialist! I never thought it might really work!"

"Now it makes sense why you didn't want the fairy 'Corn' to know about these kind of dolls. He would discover you use magic for your own self centered motives. Not only that, you involve inoccents too. Having no prior knowledge, and not being a certified witch doctor... How could you give direct instructions to Maria-chan on 'how to make your own voodoo dolls' when you don't know yourself. I bet you made up the rules every time she asked something new!"

"It's OK. None of the prototypes worked..."

"But the principle stands! What about your magic ethics? Even if it didn't work you should be careful with the dolls and what you do! And don't involve children in these experiments!" He says outraged by Kyoko's reckless behavior. After a short silence the little doll calms down and continues.

"Ok... I'm a cool guy, I will let this slip by. But to put this matter to rest, we have to test it out definitively. This way my existence is safe to everyone..."

"Wait! What are you talking about... what are you doing" she says crawling back.

"If the real Ren was to kiss you... He would look you right in the eyes, like this..." the doll says with a smooth voice

Gahh! That's a mini emperor of the night! This is all one big elaborate trap!* Kyoko falls on the floor.

"...He would slowly approach you like this", the doll is slowly approaching Kyoko's face

"Yeah...?" Kyoko is blushing a little. She starts to remember the day she fell on the target's apartment, more specifically in the kitchen's floor.

"He would hold your face like this". The doll put his little cotton stuffed hand at the girls cheek.

"Yeah... that would be killer... I mean no! Wait! "

"And then finally he would kiss you like this! Hmmmm"

The doll is slowly approaching his final destination. The 'lip to lip' contact is imminent. Kyoko closes her eyes and prepares for something to happen. Before that happened another voice echoes through the room.

"Mogami-san!" the voice says so fast it sounds like a single syllable. This leaves her frozen in place with the little Rendoll in her hands. (They are about to kiss each other).

"Mogami-saaaaan!" the voice says with the intonation she knows so well. This sends electrical shocks through her spine. Kyoko salutes like a soldier in reflex. She drops the doll but her eyes are still closed.

"Could you please explain me what I saw and heard happening in this room? Were you imitating my voice and talking to a little doll as it was me?"

Kyoko is speechless, no excuse comes to her mind. There is no safe way out of this one. Not only her doll hobby is exposed, now she can even be charged with illegal practice of magic. All seems lost, but she is not going down without a fight...

"I prefer the term emulating... imitating is saying the exact same thing... emulating is saying something else just like the original, you better look it up...".

"Maybe the term you are looking for is fantasizing. Ha-ha. You really did fantasize about me uh? "

"..." Kyoko is too ashamed to respond.

"Oh! Speaking of correct terms, you should use 'puppet doll'... voodoo dolls have nothing to do with actual Voodoo religion! That's is a made up term, you better look it up... "

"Oh...Kay?..." She opens her eyes, A shining fake smile completely blinds her sight.

The voice continues on.

"So from what I understand... you involved Maria in some kind of experiment with magic dolls. Are you that kind of fool? Do you really believe in magic? You know magic isn't real right?"

"..." Kyoko has no answer to this.

"Believing in something yourself is one thing, but involving someone else in your machinations is unforgivable. From what I just heard, you would entice Maria with something she likes, despite you knowing deep inside it is wrong... You would even make up the rules as you go when you fell it is convenient!"

"...", Kyoko still has no answer to this. Even if she had an answer, she is too intimidated to respond.

"Just because someone is younger and more gullible than you doesn't mean you should manipulate them! You should be the adult of the relationship and bear the responsibility!"

"...", Kyoko is at a loss on how to respond. She concedes that this is a complete win for the "Rendoll-MKII"'. She was not capable of countering any of to the second doll arguments and thus failed the test. She decides to stops the 'play' midway, stores all the toys in her closet and proceeds to help at the restaurant. Some ideas still remains at her mind.

While helping in the restaurant, she considers adjustments to staging test at her room. The "Rendoll-MKII" is a formidable adversary and was spot on in each and every of his lines. During this play, he was a proper representation of the real Tsugura-Ren and everything that man stands for. Aside from little adjustments on the "Shining-Fake-Smile-Mask", the RENDOLL-MKII is ready. He is the latest model when one speaks of Ren-based doll-technology. He a is little bigger than the one Maria was gifted on her birthday, has more accessories, and of course it's first 100% proportional. This is necessary to proper replicate the felling of the real one. A feeling she remembers way too well, because in the past Ren surprised her talking to the little Rendoll. He never saw the doll and only heard a mumbling speech emulating his voice. From that day on, the feeling of dread of almost being caught was etched in her memory. Today at LME was a confirmation these fears, as she was unable to counter Ren inquisition 'ad lib'. After letting it slip out that the doll was special, every other answer she had was compromising. In terror of having the other dolls found out, she was not able to explain her obscure hobby and all she could do was freeze there in panic while Ren kindly asked for a doll.

As an act of self preservation, Kyoko designed the staging test to train for the fateful day... the day when that man will find her playing with a little Ren doll. It is a matter of time, she knows, and preparation is the key. It's like they say: practice makes perfect. After thinking hard about this problem, Kyoko came up with a 'staging within another staging setup', (an 'act inside another act'), or a 'second order play of shame', that's how she like to call it. In these, she gets caught and shamed by Ren. The real goal is to prepare the answers in advance so that she won't stutter. Thinking deeply about it, at any given moment Ren can bust the door open and find her playing with a doll, even during a second order play. How is she going to explain that? To be really prepared, she needs yet another doll and a "third order play of shame" in which she gets caught twice. In fact, this reasoning is recursive, and can go forever. She is stuck in this nth-order-play-of-shame-loop, a solution would demand an infinite supply of Ren dolls, but she realizes finally that Ren will never be interested in going inside her room in the middle of the night, so the conditions for the loop will never be met if she keeps these tests inside her room at night. As long as she is disciplined, she can stop at two dolls.

She is almost ashamed of this setting, she has perfect information about the subject, prepares in advance and the guy is completely and utherly in the dark. Even so, the the sad truth is she might still get herself in trouble if caught off guard.

Kyoko finishes helping the costumers at the restaurant. She wants to try her setup again with the difficult level set from 'Emperor of the Night' to 'Shameless Playboy' and see if she is able to figure out something worth saying. She have to prepare for other moods of the target too but it is getting late. She decides to sleep early instead, tomorrow is another day and last night she did not sleep that well. With a little effort she tries to recall exactly what happened in the dream that made her wake up. Suddenly it hit like a truck. All the pieces of the puzzle falls in place and everything fits. If this is some kind of "spooky action at a distance", this is the full picture she has of what probably happened:

-Kyoko makes a "puppet doll" using herself as the model, it has perfect proportions and even uses her own hair in it. (Hey, this one might actually work!)

-Kyoko comes to the conclusion that testing her own puppet would be as dangerous as a neurosurgeon operating himself. (I'm not having any of that!)

-Kyoko considers asking "Moko-san" for help with the puppet but reconsiders when sees the way Kanae throws the old "friendship doll" around.

-Kyoko forgets the puppet collecting dust in the bag for a long time.

-Kyoko declares the experiment a failure without further evidence.

-Maria asks for help with puppet dolls in a later date.

-Maria receives the bag with sewing materials and the doll, (She is a big responsible girl, she will not mess up...).

-Maria gives the bag away at the first opportunity (Damn it!).

-Ren gets his hands on the doll, cuddles it to death.

-Kyoko has the dream.

She fidgets in her futton pondering.

What if... I mean... Supposing Tsuruga-san got the doll from Maria-chan yesterday, that means he had the doll in his possession during the whole night.*

Kyoko tries to remember the order of the events in the dream.

In my dream I was little. The room was giant. I couldn't move. I was tied and held by my back. Almost as if I was... a doll...* She punches the palm of the hand against the other fist. *Tsuruga-san was huge. He was sitting on a bed. He was holding me by the rope and looked at me in the eyes.*

She is not entirely sure, but comes to a conclusion:

Maybe the dolls antenna's power was amplified during my sleep! I was probably seeing the world through the doll's eyes... wait... That explains everything! I was the doll in his room yesterday! We are 'entangled' or 'superimposed' somehow. That's the only logical explanation!

Well, everything fits... except the part when Tsuruga-san finds the me cute and cuddles my hair. That part was dream hallucination obviously...*

After this realization. Kyoko mouth is wide open in disbelief and desperation, she is rolling on her futton covering her face as she finally understands the implications of what happened today: Ren was able to get away with the puppet. She was spacing out, entirely vulnerable, and didn't want to reveal her secrets. (she was never good at hiding things from him to begin with, so she decided to stay silent). In the end somehow he got the puppet. Now, in a sense, she is literally in his hands! To makes matters worst, that guy is leaving on a business travel and didn't tell when he is coming back...

Now all she can do is to wait for her inevitable doom... her life is already forfeit.

End of chapter

 **Trivia/Extras**

 **When Kyoko is role playing there are some rules in effect on the field. Refer 'Da Rules' below for more info:**

Spell: "Mogami-san-calling'

Type: Summoning spell, a commoner is called.

Effects: Elemental damage can be added,

level 1: eletric/shocking, through the spine.

level 2: cold/frezzing, the whole body.

level 3: upgrades to 'Kyoko-chan-calling' with fire/melting effect.

Spell 2: "Puppetmancer's kiss of death"

Type: Curse?

Effects: Unknow


End file.
